Make it same for children with disabilities

Ensure quality education and dignity for all

Iqbal

Little Iqbal wasn’t taken care of like a human being, nor was he spoken to.

Everyone in his village Baksha despised him. Even his maternal uncle who he lived with regarded him as feeble and a “good for nothing“. He was an orthopedically disabled child, a nine year old who had fallen prey to polio. And for him and everyone he knew, his future was decided by his physical disability.

It was around the same time that the team members of Makhala Mukthadara, a CRY America supported project took him under their fold and started working with him to change his life.

They first observed the family members of Iqbal and the community he lived in. Later, they interacted with them regularly, educating and convincing them on the real cause of Iqbal’s disability and made them aware of his rights as a disabled child.

Five years of continuous efforts have brought a ‘sea-change’ in Iqbal’s life. Today he is welcomed at social events. He helps his family in doing household chores and attends school where he participates in functions and sports.

Not only that, the community people and his classmates also help him overcome hurdles everyday.

Riku says, I can!

Ms. Mina Naskar and Mr. Madan Naskar, wouldn’t attend any social functions. They were afraid the community will hound them with questions about their daughter.
14 years old Riku Naskar, was a Cerebral Palsied child. Mina could not believe that her daughter would be able to do something on her own.
Little did she know that, more than the physical disability, Riku was actually fighting emotionally, largely because of her own parents’ woes and the society’s approach towards her.
That was until 1999, when the Makhla Muktadhara team from Hooghly District identified Riku and began working with her and her family to rehabilitate her. Mina Naskar and her husband were counseled by the Muktadhara team to get over their daughter’s disability and motivated them to fight for her.
After years of working with Riku, regular access to Physio-therapy, counseling and special education given by her parents under the guidance of Muktadhara team, she began integrating with school as well as the community she lives in.

Today Riku not only goes to the public school with self-confidence and esteem, but also participates in school and community functions, sports and cultural forums.

A district level core team member of the Children’s Group, Riku is now able to let her classmates, teachers and friends understand that she is no Different from others.